Two Special Lenses for "Barry Lyndon" by Ed DiGiulio (President, Cinema
Products Corp.)

From: American Cinematographer

How the stringent demands of a purist-perfectionist film-maker led to
the development of two valuable new cinematographic tools.

My first contact with Stanley Kubrick was when he was referred to me by our
mutual friend, Haskell Wexier, ASC, during Kubrick's preparation for "A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE". Haskell indicated to him that I and my company were very responsive
to the demanding needs of professional filmmakers, especially when it came to
coming up with unique solutions to difficult probems.

For "CLOCKWORK" we purchased a standard Mitchell BNC for Kubrick and overhauled
it, but did not reflex it or modify it in any special way. Kubrick's attitude
has always been that he would rather work with a non-reflexed BNC and thereby
gain tremendous flexibility and latitude in adaptation of special lenses to
the camera - as was subsequently the case on "BARRY LYNDON". For "CLOCKWORK"
w e also supplied the major accessory items for which we are well known, such
as the "Joy Stick" zoom control, the BNC crystal motor and the Arri crystal
motor.

At the very early stages of his preparation for "BARRY LYNDON", Kubrick scoured
the world looking for exotic, ultra-fast lenses, because he knew he would be
shooting extremely low light level scenes. It was his objective, incredible
as it seemed at the time, to photograph candle-lit scenes in old English castles
by only the light of the candles themselves! A former still photographer for
Look magazine, Kubrick has become extremely knowledgeable with regard to lenses
and, in fact, has taught himself every phase of the technical application of
his filming equipment. He called one day to ask me if I thought I could fit
a Zeiss lens he had procured, which had a focal length of 50mm and a maximum
aperture of f/O.7. He sent me the dimensional specifications, and I reported
that it was impossible to fit the lens to his BNC because of its large diameter
and also because the rear element came within 4mm of the film plane. Stanley,
being the meticulous craftsman that he is, would not take 'No" for an answer
and persisted until I reluctantly agreed to take a hard look at the problem.

When the lens arrived, we could see it was designed as a still camera lens,
with a Compur shutter built into the lens. The diameter of the lens was so large
that it would just barely fit into the BNC lens port, leaving no room for an
additional focusing shell. As a consequence, we had to design a focusing arrangement
so that the entire lens barrel rotates freely in the lens port. To avoid possible
binds that might result from this unconventional mode of operation, we added
a second locating pin to the standard BNC lens flange, so that the two pins
securely held the lens barrel concentric with the lens port during operation.

The problem of the close proximity of the rear element to the film plane was
a much more difficult matter to resolve. To begin with, we removed the adjustable
shutter blade, leaving the camera with only a fixed maximum opening. We then
had to machine the body housing and the aperture plate a considerable distance
inward so that the fixed shutter blade could be pulled back as far as possible
toward the film plane.

Naturally, the Compur shutter had to be dismantled and the iris leaves altered
so that they could be manually operated in the normal manner. Calibrating the
focus scale on the lens presented quite a problem, too. A lens as fast as this
has an extremely shallow depth of field when shooting wide open, so Kubrick
understandably wanted to have as broad a band spread on the scale as possible.
To do this we used an extremely fine thread for the focusing barrel and this
resulted in a scale which required two complete revolutions to go from infinity
down to approximately 5 feet. We had to stop at 5 feet or it would have taken
several more revolutions to bring it to the near focus point. Kubrick agreed
that this was as close a focus as he would require, and that stopping at two
revolutions would make the scale less ambiguous.

Remembering that this lens was to be used on a non-reflexed BNC and, further,
that the rear element of the lens came within 4mm of the film plane, an additional
problem was that the camera could not be racked over to the viewing position
if the lens were in its normal filming position. Accordingly, we designed a
safety interlock switch so that the lens had to be rotated a full nine revolutions
out before the micro switch would trip, permitting the camera to be racked over.
In this manner we protected the rear element of the lens from being inadvertently
smashed if the operator attempted to rack over before the lens was moved forward
sufficiently.

Ed DiGiulio, President of Cinema Products
Corporation, shown holding the new Cine-Pro 20-to-1 (24mm-480mm) lens, which
was originally designed at the request of Stanley Kubrick specially for filming
"Barry Lyndon". The Zeiss 50mm, f/0.7 lens, with the Kollmorgen adaptor,
is mounted on the non-reflexed Mitchell BNC camera utilized to shoot the film's
candlelight sequence.

The lens and camera were sent to Kubrick who film-tested it and reported that
the results were fantastic. He found, however, that he did have to recalibrate
our scale, apparently because of some slight shift in camera position during
shipment. We subsequently determined that it was necessary for us to tighten
up the dovetail gibs upon which the camera racks back and forth to the point
where racking over became fairly stiff, since the flange focal depth of the
lens was so extremely critical.

To protect the rear element of the Zeiss
50mm, f/0.7 lens (which was within 4mm of the film plane), a special safety
interlock switch was designed so that the lens had to be rotated a full nine
revolutions out before the micro-switch would trip, permitting the camera to
be racked over.

At this point Kubrick complained that the single 50mm focal length was too
limiting and that what he required was a wider-angle lens of the same speed.
He began thinking in terms of various anamorphosing schemes or other optical
tricks to widen the angle of the lens we had. I told him that before doing anything
as mind-boggling as this I would check with some of the optical experts I knew
to see if there were a simpler way. As luck would have it, Dr. Richard Vetter
of Todd-A-O, a man whose optical expertise I've always held in high esteem,
suggested to me that the result I was trying to achieve could probably be accomplished
by using a projection lens adapter, designed by the Kollmorgen Corporation,
which was originally intended to modify the focal length of 70mm projection
lenses in theatres so that the image format could exactly match the size of
the screen.

We purchased one of these adapters, mounted it to the front of the lens, and
after some optical and mechanical manipulation we were pleased to see that the
effective focal length of our composite lens system was 36.5mm. The aperture
of the new 36.5mm lens remained at f/0.7 and its effective aperture was reduced
only slightly by the minor light absorption in the two front elements. We sent
this lens on to Kubrick and, again, he was ecstatic with the results. However,
being the demanding technical genius that he is, Stanley Kubrick urged us to
go further and see if we could come up with a still wider angle lens. Again
I turned to Dr. Vetter, and this time he provided me with a "Dimension 150"
lens adapter which, when mounted to the front of still another Zeiss 50mm prime
lens, gave us an effective focal length of 24mm. However, at this point our
improvisational engineering techniques began to catch up with us and Kubrick
determined that the lens gave a bit too much distortion, so that he would not
wish to intercut photography from this lens with photography from the other
two.

The Zeiss 50mm and 36.5mm, f/0.7 lenses
used to film candlelight sequences for "Barry Lyndon" without the
addition of artificial light were originally still-camera lenses developed for
use by NASA in the Apollo Moon-landing program, and modified by Cinema Products
Corp. The 50mm lens, shown here in focusing mount, had to have the adjustable
shutter blade, necessary for still photography, removed for filming.

As a technician and not a creative artist, I asked Kubrick the obvious question:
Why were we going to all this trouble when the scene could be easily photographed
with the high-quality super-speed lenses available today (such as those manufactured
by Canon and Zeiss) with the addition of some fill light. He replied that he
was not doing this just as a gimmick, but because he wanted to preserve the
natural patina and feeling of these old castles at night as they actually were.
The addition of any fill light would have added an artificiality to the scene
that he did not want. To achieve the amount of light he actually needed in the
candlelight scenes, and in order to make the whole movie balance out properly,
Kubrick went ahead and push-developed the entire film one stop - outdoor and
indoor scenes alike. I am sure that everyone who has seen the results on the
screen must agree that Kubrick has succeeded in achieving some of the most unique
and beautiful imagery in the cinematic art.

(Left) Specially machined aperture plate
to accommodate the Zeiss 50mm, f/0.7 lens. (Right) The specially machined aperture
plate in position in the specially machined camera body housing, both designed
to accommodate the modified super-fast lens. Kubrick refused to settle for a
standard high-speed lens and the addition of artificial light because he wanted
to re-create the natural patina and mood of stately houses illuminated solely
by candlelight, as they were during the period of the film's story.

On "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE", Kubrick had made effective use of a 20-to-1
zoom lens that he had rented from Samuelson Film Service in London. The closing
scene of the movie, with a long slow pull-back from the hero of the story as
he walks along the river, is a prime example of its application.

Kubrick likes to own all of his own equipment even to the extent of building
his own very modest location vehicle. This may be partly an ego trip, but I
think it is mainly due to the fact that he is meticulous about the care and
maintenance of his equipment and is, therefore, very uncomfortable with equipment
that someone else has used. In any event, for whatever reason, Kubrick insisted
that I build him a 20-to-1 zoom lens for "BARRY LYNDON". What followed was a
series of phone calls, telexes, and letters between Kubrick and myself and between
me and the Angenieux Corporation, who were, in fact, the suppliers of the basic
zoom components for all of these 20-to-1 zoom lenses. Through it all, Kubrick
displayed the kind of technical knowledge and skill, rare in modern filmmakers,
that enabled him to define the problem precisely and specify what had to be
done to achieve the lens he wanted.

We went ahead with his program and were just able to put together a working
prototype, still not properly finished or calibrated, so, that Kubrick would
have it in time for the filming. Again he was delighted with the results, as
seen in a number of exterior sequences in the film. We subsequently completed
the design of this lens - the Cine-Pro T9 24-480mm zoom lens - and have built
and sold several of these lenses. (And now that Kubrick has finished shooting
the picture, we have finally completed the construction of his prototype lens.)

My relationship with Stanley Kubrick has been one of the most unusual, yet
intellectually stimulating, that I have ever known. We have spent countless
hours in telephone conversations, and written literally hundreds of letters
and telexes back and forth. Yet I have never met the man! I felt sure I would
while in London attending the Film '73 exhibition with my wife, Lou. We were
escorted to his combination home-and-office by his executive producer, Jan Harlan.
But when we arrived, Kubrick was out scouting locations for "BARRY LYNDON" and
expressed his regrets at not having been there to meet us. We were, however,
very graciously entertained by his lovely wife Christiane, who is an accomplished
and recognized artist in her own right.

This minor frustration aside, it has been an exciting and stimulating experience
working with a man of Kubrick's consummate skills and talents on his recent
film projects. He currently has me investigating another camera/optical scheme
he has in mind which I think I should keep confidential until he has had a chance
to use it. Undoubtedly, it will be used on his next film project (a project
which I look forward to with a mixture of trepidation and excitement).

Our company motto is: "Technology in the Service of Creativity." I cannot think
of a more fitting example of our motto at work than the modest role my company
and I played in the making of "BARRY LYNDON".